The busiest of the summer holiday periods has passed, making it a good time to make the hike up Shirley Canyon and up to High Camp. I am also not going to lie, the free ride down the cable car to a free lunch at Rocker also provided some additional motivation. I hadn’t planned on seeing an explosion of wildflowers on the hike, and that was a huge bonus.
It’s been a dozen years since I have hiked Shirley Canyon and it was the first time I had ever hiked it all of the way to High Camp. Previously, I had turned around at Shirley Lake or the Shirley lift. It’s a challenging hike, not a casual stroll. Some guides refer to it as an intermediate trail. I noted that the Trailforks app gives it a black diamond rating. It’s a combination of forest trails along Shirley Creek, some billygoat rock scrambles and some bare granite way finding. If you start too late in the day, it can get oppressively hot.
There Are Options
We did the traditional start from the Palisades Tahoe parking lot, following the trail to its end at High Camp. It’s just over 4 miles from the parking lot with an elevation gain of 1900 feet. At a leisurely pace, it’s about a 3 to 4 hour hike. We stopped to enjoy the wildflowers frequently, as they are amazing this week. The tram ride back down to the village is free in this direction.
You might think it’s easier going the other direction. I am not so sure about that. The tram is not free going up. If you’re reading here, it’s likely you have a season pass for next season, so you’re good to go. Otherwise, an adult ticket is $41. Yikes! Hiking four miles downhill can be just as tough on your body. The rock scrambles and granite faces can be a real challenge going down. Navigation can also be an issue, as the trail marker signs and blue paint cues are targeted for uphill travel.
Another popular option seemed to be to take the tram to High Camp, then hike down to Shirley Lake, then return to the tram. This option keeps you on regular hiking trails, maximizes your wildflower viewing and cuts the vertical rise in half.
I Love Seeing Ski Terrain In The Summer
Hiking ski areas in the summer season is really interesting. This was my first time hiking above the bottom of the Shirley lift, giving me a great opportunity to see the actual terrain that is under what I have skied many time in Shirley and Solitude, and a few times in the almost-never-open Silverado. In general, things look much steeper without snow. Trails that look like roads in the winter are actually not even a goat trail in the summer. It gives you that much more appreciation for what it takes to get a mountain ready for skiers and riders as the snow starts piling up in November.
As you traverse across the slopes of the Shirley Lake lift, only Shirley 1 looks like it could be a smooth ski run. Fifth Tree (Marillacs) looks far steeper and rougher than its usual billiards table smooth winter version. There were just a few patches of snow on the mountain, notably in the Funnel, the upper part of Silverado and over near the top of Siberia.
The tram ride down was more crowded than I expected. It wasn’t as busy as a midwinter pow day, but there were a number of people headed downhill.
Another Free Lunch
It’s the month of July, and another $25 of mountain credits appeared in my Ikon Pass wallet. Last month they were used for a poke bowl at Sun Bowl. This time we found a table at Rocker on their outdoor patio. Truth be told, there were plenty of options to choose from below or very near $25. I chose the chicken sando and my wife chose a sort of caprese salad. With one Arnold Palmer to drink, plus water, our total came out to 48 bucks and some change, leaving me with $1.26 in credits for the month. It’s going to bother me if I don’t use that as I am committed to using all of the mountain credits associated with next year’s pass.
The chicken sando and fries was actually very good. It seemed like a better value than the poke bowl from last month. Truth be told, it actually makes me consider going to Rocker again. Their marketing plan is working.
You should get out and enjoy the wild flowers on the mountain soon, whether that be on the Shirley Canyon trail at Palisades trail…or a nice hike up Alpine Bowl at Alpine Meadows. The ski dreams have not yet started…so I am enjoying summer for now.
We did the Shirley Lake to High Camp last week during the cooldown. It was pleasant but not as easy as I remembered, probably just age. A Blue run is always a challenge to walk directly up, so we appreciated the switchbacks across the face of the runs.
The teenagers in our group pushed on to the top of We She Shu peak because they hadn’t had enough.
The tram ride down was a savior, and I wish that the High Camp pool was still available. It used to be a great finish to an uphill hike.
Great hike story! It def is a challenging hike all the way up to tram. And the ride down is a savior!